disney

Disney is joining the ever-growing list of places where selfie sticks are forbidden. If you are touring the "Happiest Place on Earth" solo and your arms aren't long enough for a good selfie, you can always ask a park employee to take the photo. They will gladly oblige. The new policy goes into effect on Tuesday at its Orlando Disney World location. Soon after, the policy will extend to Disneyland in California, Euro Disney, and Tokyo Disney. Disney isn't taking a stance on whether the tastelessness of selfie sticks outweighs their usefulness--its decision comes down to safety.

This week the folks at SMS Audio have revealed their next collection of headphones - Marvel Comics style. This set will have the same quality sound and feel to the previous releases of SMS Audio Sport headphones - of which these are models in the family - but here will have unique designs based on the characters they represent. The first three headphones revealed in this collection are Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Widow. Embellishments are not only color-accurate with the characters they represent, they're boosted up in full 3D.

Disney Playmation revealed with wearable toys, projectors, and wireless technology creating a whole new kind of gaming experience. What you're about to see is the Avengers collection, the first set of Playmation technology that'll hit stores this October. Disney is aiming to change the way children and children-at-heart play games in the real world - getting up and taking action, wearing toys that transform them into their favorite superheroes. Smart Figures, Repulsor Gear, and an optional connection between the lot of them in AvengersNet.

Now we will never know if Flynn really (still) lives. Barely two months since it seemed almost guaranteed that there will be a third film from the geek favorite TRON franchise, Disney suddenly pulls the rug from under it, at least according to anonymous sources. Just as TRON 3, for lack of a better way to call it, has never really been official, it is now also unofficially dead. And while no definite reason has been handed out, some fingers are being pointed in the direction of Disney's most recent sci-fi flick, Tomorrowland.

In the future, when you see your favorite characters walking around Disney World, they might not be actors inside thick, stuffy character suits, but could be automated robots, instead. The scientific arm of Disney has just created a new method of bringing its animated characters to life. A team of engineers from Disney Research in Pittsburgh and the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University have developed a bipedal, walking robot that moves just like specified 3D animation.

In the wake of the preview announcement of the Iron Man Edition of the Galaxy S6 Edge, SlashGear turns its eye to the Poor Techie's Solution. Here we're taking a peek at another SkinIt skin for our device. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge has a curved front display glass, and therefor presents a bit of a challenge for case makers and accessory creators alike. How does SkinIt solve this problem? As it turns out, they didn't have to do much of anything different from their normal methods of application.

Ah, the Indiana Jones series, that other Harrison Ford-starring franchise from Lucasfilm that has a special place in so many fans' hearts. Now that it's owned by Disney, the company has announced a new special release featuring the character. No, it's not a new trilogy of films (although one has been confirmed), but it is a restaurant! Disney Parks has said that this fall they will be opening an Indiana Jones-themed restaurant in Orlando, Florida.

The second in a series of standalone Star Wars films is now in need of a new director, as previous title holder, Josh Trank, has recently announced he's leaving the project. After being absent from the Star Wars Celebration event in California last month, Trank, who has been attached to the movie since 2014, wrote in a post on StarWars.com that "After a year of having the incredible honor of developing with the wonderful and talented people at Lucasfilm, I’m making a personal decision to move forward on a different path."

Well, here's an unexpected collaboration. Vince Gilligan, creator of the hugely successful drama series Breaking Bad, is working with Disney to turn Beanstalk into a feature film. Gilligan is responsible for the initial adaptation treatment of the story, which is based on the fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk, while the full script will be written by Thomas Schnauz. Gilligan's duties won't there, however, as he will be producing the movie alongside Mark Johnson, says The Hollywood Reporter.

A few weeks ago, Verizon announced they were getting away from the stodgy model of large, confusing TV packages. Instead of bringing bundles with 30-plus channels, FiOS customers would be able to select from much smaller bundles, a move akin to Sling TV. ESPN was none-too-happy about the move, saying it violated contracts that are intended to keep all Disney properties lumped into one package. Verizon ignored ESPN’s objections, and went ahead with their ‘pay for what you want’ packages. Now, ESPN is suing, claiming breach of contract.

Disney is doing a lot more than 3D-printing fabric. Disney Research Labs have created smartphone accessories called "acoustruments" that can control your smartphone by playing the instrument-like accessories. These little ultrasonic instruments attach to the base of a smartphone and the manipulations of sound can be interpreted like toggles and switches for the smartphone, like pressing a camera shutter in the above photo. The idea is based on the principles of wind instruments like slide whistles and The Legend of Zelda's ocarina.

As the 3D printing boom continues, there's one thing that is almost always the same: objects are printed from rigid plastic. How are we supposed to print soft, plushy things like stuffed animals from that kind of material? Well, the folks at Disney Research are way ahead of you, as their new prototype 3D printer is able to produce flexible things made from fabric. Instead of normal 3D printers that use plastic, adding portions of the material in specific spots, Disney's machine cuts shapes in sheets of fabric, which are then layered on top each other.